The Roles They've Played
by Radkoko
Summary: Accidents can change peoples lives for good or bad. Kakashi has been around too many accidents and as another is thrown at him, he's unsure how to feel. A story from the recent summer KakaIru Ficfest.


A/N: Written for the summer LJ KakaIru Ficfest, My prompt was accidents. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Kakashi was writing on the whiteboard when he heard the distinct ring of a phone. He'd never been one for caring much about his students using their phones in his class, knowing that regardless of his reprimanding they'd be texting their friends two seats away. The only thing he'd asked was that they kept it silent; no stupid ring tones, no taking phone calls. This was very obviously the ringing of a phone and nobody was doing anything about it.

He turned around, searching around the class for guilty faces, or someone frantically searching through their bags to change a phone to silent. There was nothing. All the students were looking around equally confused. Kakashi watched as some students' eyes lit up in surprise, zoning in on his own desk to a small case that held the ringing and buzzing phone. The silver haired professor looked down at the item he barely remembered he owned, just as it stopped ringing. Hoping that would be the end of it, he turned back to the board, inching his hand closer to the board, hearing another buzz from the phone. Although Kakashi knew it'd be fodder for his students if he were to check the phone, he also knew that if someone was trying to contact him this way, something was wrong. Only about four people knew that phone number, and all of them knew he was in class.

Before he could get back to his notes, the phone beeped again, and there was no longer getting around it. He dismissed his students early, waiting patiently as they filed out. He was itching to pick up the phone and figure out what was going on, but he did have to keep some face in front of his students and he tried his best to keep it. The closing door echoed in the now empty classroom as Kakashi attempted to work the phone, not that he was bad with technology, just his inexperience with this particular item.

He looked at the screen noticing that it was Naruto's ID. The boy had called, left a voice mail, and texted him, as it just sunk into him how important this was. Kakashi dialed his voice mail, hearing Naruto's distinct voice, lacking its usual fervor.

"Umm, Kakashi… know you're busy… but… Iruka's being taken to the hospital, there was an accident-"

Kakashi heard nothing else as he dropped the phone, clattering against the floor. He was shocked into stillness, brain unable to compute what he should do next. His body finally kicked in gear, grabbing everything he needed to get to Iruka. Practically running for his car, Kakashi stopped for a second grabbing the cell phone he'd dropped. No matter how much his thought process was jumbled, without the cell there might be no way of finding Iruka at the hospital.

Opening the car door, Kakashi tossed his bag inside then stepped away taking in a deep breath. It was all he could to do to keep his mind from racing.

Everyone thought that he was always the calm one, and Iruka was the worrywart, but somehow in these situations the two of them switched. Working with younger children all day did lead the pony-tailed man to his mother-henning, but it also allowed him a cool head when something happened. Letting a child go unattended because of an inability to calm down is not an option when it comes to parents, so he did what was necessary. On the other hand Kakashi had been too close to death when he was younger, that even the idea of going into the hospital for a check up scared him straight.

Of course going to the hospital for someone else scared him even further. Not one of the people that he'd ever visited in the hospital had survived, and he wasn't sure what he'd do if that happened again, not Iruka.

Before he realized it Kakashi was already pulling into the parking lot of the hospital. He jumped out of the car, speeding up as he headed through the sliding doors. Eyes flashed towards the reception counter, catching bright instantly recognizable colors in his path. The silver haired man turned towards the blonde in the overly saturated orange shirt that nobody could miss.

"Ohh Kakashi, I didn't think you'd be here so soon," Naruto said, a little wide-eyed and fidgety.

"Where's Iruka? What happened?" Kakashi demanded as he lightly grasped the teen boy's shoulders.

"Well… Umm… It wasn't as big of a deal as I made it out to be," Naruto muttered, after getting over the fear that Kakashi instilled in him.

"What?" The older man looked perplexed, not even sure how to interpret what the boy had said. A taller figure walked up behind Naruto as a bandaged hand wrapped its way around the boy's chest pulling him away from Kakashi.

"What the hell did you tell him?" Iruka asked as he ruffled the Naruto's hair a little less lovingly than normal.

"That hurts!" Naruto practically yelled, but the ruffling continued, as Iruka waited for an answer. "I just said you were brought here, it's not like I'd been told much more!"

Iruka sighed as he let his hand drop and leaned onto Naruto's shoulder, "I want to say I can't believe you two…but I really can."

Kakashi stood still staring at the man he was assuming would be lying unconscious on a hospital bed. Instead the man was wandering around as if nothing had happened.

"Wait, what did happen?" Kakashi asked still staring confused.

Iruka laughed lightly, as his cheeks burned pink. "I wasn't exactly looking where I was going, and stepped out into the street. I guess I was lucky that the guy driving was able to react so quickly. The only reason they brought me here was to make sure I didn't have a concussion or something. And the only reason this one," he said pointing at Naruto, "freaked and called you was because the hospital asked me for someone to notify. I knew you'd be in class, so I gave them his info. Apparently they didn't tell him that it wasn't life threatening."

Kakashi took in a deep breath before exhaling slowly, as he walked over to Iruka wrapping his arms around his significant other. Kakashi buried his head in the tanned neck as he talked himself into knowing that the man he was holding on to wasn't hurt, as he'd been expecting.

"The world isn't ending I promise," Iruka whispered, bringing his arms up and around the other man. They'd often discussed the missing people from each of their lives and although he hadn't said it, that was the bigger reason why he was upset with Naruto for having called Kakashi. If the silver haired man hadn't been told, Iruka could have easily played off that he fixed himself up, but even the mention of the hospital affected Kakashi, and he hadn't wanted to cause that stress.

Iruka really couldn't be angry with Naruto either though. After the boy lost his parents he'd been very quick to take care of others. Iruka craned his neck away from the mop of hair he'd been buried in and looked towards the blonde boy. "Just try to get all the information first next time, Naruto, that's all I ask."

The boy's face turned pink as he scratched his head, "Sorry."

A small reassuring kiss was placed on Kakashi's head as Iruka pulled away, grabbing onto Kakashi's hand, slowly intertwining their fingers. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The trio walked out to Kakashi's car in silence, as Naruto began to turn a different way. "We'll see you at home?" Iruka asked the teen who broke off towards his car.

"No, I'm gonna go spend the night at Sasuke's," he said as his eyes shifted between the two. "If that's ok?"

Iruka looked skeptically at the boy. "I'm guessing he doesn't know yet, but of course it is." The two laughed, as Naruto climbed into his car and drove off. The brown haired man turned towards Kakashi noting the still unsure look in his eyes. "Do I need to drive?"

Kakashi snapped awake, looking towards the other man, eyes lingering down to the bandaged hand he'd noticed earlier, yet hadn't quite understood. His eyes flickered back up to his lover's face and responded confidently "I'll be fine."

Iruka nodded in understanding as he got into the passenger side. With both of them seated, Kakashi started the car up and headed back to their home. He only speake after a few moments in thought. "If you didn't actually get hurt, what did happen?" He asked noting the bandages.

Pulling his hand up, Iruka studied it. "Well I didn't get hit, but I did fall when I tried to get out of the way. I guess I scraped up my hand bad enough that the nurse didn't want to let me go before bandaging it up, even though I said I could handle it."

Kakashi sighed, feeling a hand rest on his thigh to console him, and glancing at Iruka he smiled.

* * *

Kakashi awoke to the thumping he heard in his left ear. The rhythmic sound of his partner's heartbeat was a comfort after the earlier scare. The two rarely sleep like this, Kakashi on Iruka's chest as they held each other, but once in a while it was important to feel comforted. The silver haired man didn't want to disturb the other man in the bed, but he shifted up into a slight sitting position letting Iruka fall onto his chest, almost switching their positions.

Watching the brown haired man settle back into sleep, Kakashi couldn't help but think about how they'd gotten here. After his parents' deaths, Kakashi began distancing himself from everyone around him, using his intelligence to get him through school as fast as he could. It wasn't until his first class of high school that he got a knock upside the head that made him realize what he'd lost by shutting everyone out.

A man by the name of Minato Namikaze, his English teacher, and advisor for high school, was that change. The man was the only one who didn't allow him to get away with his normal antics. Minato would always force him to work in groups to learn the socialization that he'd lacked before. Of course Kakashi was a 12-year-old in high school, so naturally it would never be normal. As they grew closer Minato welcomed Kakashi into his family, as the boy had grown apart from his minimal extended family, the ones that were there just enough for him to have a roof over his head and warm food.

Kakashi wound up being adopted by Minato and his wife Kushina, but found their relationship to be more like an older brother taking care of a younger one. That was until Naruto came along, then Kakashi realized what it really was like in a sibling relationship. The four were happy, until the unthinkable happened.

It was one night near the end of Kakashi's last year of college, while he was taking care of the almost 5-year-old Naruto. He got a call from the hospital that Minato and Kushina had been in a car accident. They had both been taken to the hospital, but weren't doing well. In that instant Kakashi grabbed Naruto and rushed to the hospital just for the chance to see them. The two got there in time to see an unconscious Kushina, but only barely. The small boy was not understanding why his mom wasn't going to come home with him, why she wasn't waking up to hug him. Kakashi knew then that he'd have to do what he could to take care of Naruto, just as the boy's parents had taken care of him. It was as they left the hospital, a distraught pair crying clinging together as the only family one another had, that Kakashi realized how much he hated hospitals.

Kakashi came out of his memories long enough to look down at his lover. As he ran his pale fingers through the loose brown hair, he tried of course, to think of the positives of his life. Regardless of the tragedy of losing his family, not once, but twice, without both he would have never met the man that he could now not live without.

It was a few years after having adopted Naruto, not wanting to lose what little family he had left, Kakashi had to once again drop everything to go pick the boy up. The now ten-year-old blonde boy was a troublemaker, and despite Kakashi's and teachers reprimanding nothing changed. When he walked into the classroom he saw the guilty look on the small face, and turned towards the teacher, getting a bit of a surprise. Instead of the usual teacher, Kakashi came face to face with the young Iruka.

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked blatantly.

Iruka's face twitched into a smile. "My name is Iruka Umino, I'm the new student teacher for this class. And you are?"

"I'm Kakashi…" The silver haired man answered, not sure what to say next, but something intrigued him about this new person.

"Well, based on the guilty look on Naruto's face I'd say you're here for him?" Iruka asked. "His parents really should learn to discipline him better."

That moment snapped Kakashi back to reality, almost angry that the other man's lack of sensitivity, not realizing that the new student teacher might not be aware of the situation. "I don't really think that's something for you to say. I'm his guardian and maybe you should learn something about your students before saying something like that!" Kakashi was angry as he grabbed Naruto's wrist and practically ran out of the classroom. It was after he'd gotten them home that he remembered why they'd been talking, Naruto had found his way into trouble, again.

Kakashi walked up to the table that Naruto was sitting at muddling through his homework. "Naruto, what'd you do today?" he asked as he sat down next to the blonde.

"Well I went to school?" Naruto asked, not quite sure what Kakashi was asking, but also trying to avoid the subject he was sure that this would lead to.

"Why did your teacher call me in to school?" Kakashi asked turning his lazy gaze into a more serious one.

"Well, Mr. Umino was new so I didn't want him to feel left out…" Naruto said, slowly grinning in mischievousness.

"Naruto…"

"Ok, so I just glued some pages of his book together…" Naruto said, getting more nervous with the glare, "And then ran away…"

Kakashi sighed, knowing that somehow the boy's new teacher was right, even if the situation was a little different; it was him that needed to get Naruto under control.

"Naruto, you're ten, don't you think it's time to stop pulling pranks?" the older man asked, only garnering an unsure shrug. "Okay, look at me," he said waiting for eye contact from the boy. "I know I'm not the same as your parents, but I'm still responsible for you. One, your parents wouldn't be happy with you acting like this and you know that. Two, I've got my own school to do, they may be very different levels, but we both should be studying hard, not you goofing off and me finding a way to go back and forth between our schools."

Naruto listened to the speech, getting down hearted and realizing what he'd been doing to both of them. "I'm sorry… I'll work harder I promise." he said as he looked up at Kakashi, clear blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Kakashi groaned as he hugged the boy. "Nobody can stay angry at you with those eyes… Just trying is all I ask."

Even though Kakashi thought he'd gotten through to Naruto, the next day he'd somehow gotten called back to the young boy's school.

"What happened this time?" Kakashi asked in a bored tone, looking around for the blonde boy, but finding only Iruka.

"Actually Naruto was really well behaved today…" Iruka started a little unsure of himself. "And I'm the one that called you here."

Kakashi looked at the pony-tailed man a little confused.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. At first I was furious that you just left without talking about what had happened, but then I went back and realized what you said to me." Iruka paused for a little time gathering his courage to continue speaking. "I knew you were Naruto's older brother by adoption when I called you, but I didn't know that your parents had died, and so for what I said yesterday I'm sorry. I… I'm sure they were good people." Iruka continued to pause every few sentences, not really sure why he had called the man to the school, even if he needed to apologize.

"They were, but I guess now that I'm taking care of Naruto I really should discipline him better. I hope he doesn't give you too much more trouble, but it might take him a while to get his act together," Kakashi replied, to ease out the previous day's events. "Well if that's all have a good day, and with the greatest of intentions, I hope to not see you too soon," He said giving a crooked smile as he headed for the door.

"My parents died when I was Naruto's age," Iruka blurted out, covering his mouth and the reddened cheeks as fast as he could, but not fast enough. Kakashi turned around to look at the teacher, realizing that this is what the teacher had been wanting to say the whole time.

Knowing it was too late to retract his outburst Iruka took a deep breath and continued, "I guess that's why I really called you here, I don't talk about it much, but I figured if our spots had been switched I would have been just as angry. I know I've already said it, but I am sorry."

Kakashi actually chuckled slightly, as Iruka looked at him confused. "I know. Thanks for caring," he said as he smiled softly at the man before leaving.

After that Naruto stayed out of trouble, but only for a few weeks, falling back to his routine just not as bad. Of course the boy had been smart enough to notice when he got in trouble that his brother and his teacher enjoyed the chance to see each other, giving him a little incentive to get into trouble more often.

"This is the third time this week you've gotten in trouble, what is going on?" Kakashi asked as he came into the classroom.

"I thought we were doing well Naruto, why are you rebelling now? It's almost the end of the year?" Iruka asked, more disappointed than really angry.

It was Naruto's turn to get angry with both men. "That's exactly the problem it's almost the end of the year, and when that happens I'll be going to middle school, and you two wont get to see each other anymore." The two adults looked at each other then looked back at Naruto confused. "Am I really the only one that sees you two like each other? I'm only eleven! And I'd really like to stop getting in trouble, so someone ask the other out already?" he said as he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the classroom.

"Hey wait!" Iruka yelled, trying to run after the boy. He felt a hand lightly grab his wrist as he looked back at the pale man, feeling his cheeks flush.

"Naruto is right, I've liked you for a while, and can't deny that I've enjoyed him getting in trouble to get to see you," Kakashi admitted hoping for a good response from Iruka.

"I…I…" Iruka was stunned almost to silence, sighing as he gave into his feelings. "I like you too, but I can't go out with you. It's like going out with the parent of a child. I just can't do it, especially as a student teacher…" Iruka looked defeated as he sat on his desk.

"Well I guess that it's a good thing there are only two weeks left of school then." Kakashi grabbed a post-it note off of the desk and wrote down a phone number, and placed it in Iruka's hand. "I hope that you'll still be willing to call and go with me on a date, in two weeks."

Iruka nodded dumbly, his eyes widening as Kakashi leaned over to kiss him. "Eww, gross…" came the loud unmistakable voice, as Naruto stood at the door. "Can we go now, Kakash? I know my teacher wants me to get all my missing homework to him by Monday," he said rolling his eyes.

Their lips parted as Iruka started laughing, unable to help himself at Naruto's comment. Kakashi just sighed knowing he should leave. "I'll be waiting," he whispered placing one last kiss on Iruka's cheek before following Naruto out the door.

Time had flown since then but Kakashi couldn't help chuckling thinking about the boy's antics, and he, the genius, was barely able to see the same things the boy had at the age of eleven. It had been almost six years since the day Iruka had called Kakashi, and they had gone out on their first date. Naruto had stopped getting himself into trouble, and was now doing pretty well in school. Iruka had moved in with them about three years ago, helping Naruto with his classes and made them a family.

Iruka grumbled a little as he looked up at Kakashi, "What are you laughing at?" he asked bringing a sleepy smile to his face.

"Just about what got us here. No matter the pain of the hospitals and accidents we've seen, I know I owe them something for bringing you to me," Kakashi said as he leaned over to kiss Iruka. "I'm just glad that this one wasn't serious, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Iruka laughed as he squirmed his way up next to Kakashi leaning their heads together. "You would have been okay, I know you're strong, and Naruto would have still needed you. So stop talking like a sap… we're all fine."

"Yeah, I guess so," Kakashi replied, knowing Iruka was right, as always.


End file.
